Asakusa Shop Update

 

The Mokuhankan Asakusa shop is now open on a normal schedule: 10:00 ~ 5:30 daily - closed Tuesdays - and are ready for your visit anytime! (Please note that we no longer hold the Print Parties, so can not take reservations for those ...)

 

Shipping Update

 

Although the period of extended pandemic disruptions seems to be mostly behind us, the shipping situation is most definitely not 'normal'. We hear frequent reports from customers about packages - even those sent by express EMS - taking weeks to arrive, where formerly they would have taken a few days.

 

It has also become very common for packages to be returned to us after being held at the destination delivery office for a short period. If your shipment included tracking, our system will send you the number, and you must follow that information, and when you see that the package is in your area, please contact the delivery company to keep in touch. Thank you for your cooperation ...

 

Here is the current situation for most areas where our customers reside:

Israel: [August 14] We have been given a 'temporary' stop on shipments to Israel from the Japanese Post Office. Update [September 3] DHL is running shipments to that region, and packages can be shipped via that method.

USA/Canada: The Japanese Post Office has finally returned to the pre-pandemic policy of accepting packet shipments. Full service of all shipping type is now available.

Europe: After a period of extreme interruption, delivery to most European countries has fully recovered. Most shipments are moving directly between Japan and the destination, but for those few cases where the Post Office here cannot accept a package, we will include it in one of our bulk FedEx shipments, and our overseas team will send it on its way. Delivery will of course take longer, but packages are moving through.

Oceania: The Post Office is accepting packages, and all of the private carriers have also resumed deliveries. (Please also note that the Australian postal system is not 'playing nice' with tracking information on trackable Small Packet shipments: we get tracking information up to the point where it is handed off to them, and nothing beyond that.)

Most Asian countries are accepting, and packages are flowing smoothly ...

Russia: As you might expect, all orders/subscriptions/shipments to Russia are suspended until further notice.

 

Import duties: Many countries have become much more strict in recent years about import duties on packages. Woodblock prints are actually not subject to 'duty' in most areas, but local taxes (V.A.T. etc.) are applicable in many cases. Your package may be stopped by the Customs agents in your country. We are currently working on an upgrade to our systems where we will be able to charge such taxes in our shopping cart, making subsequent shipping smooth and trouble-free, but this is still in the future.

 

The current status information page (in English) maintained by the Japanese Post Office is here (.pdf).